Human Highlight

Making flashy, highlight reel plays that leave fans in awe isn’t new to Maryland’s junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie. 

Almost every young athlete dreams of making it on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays. But when Gillespie was a high school basketball phenom in Greeneville, Tennessee, he cracked the list twice with a pair of emphatic dunks. He earned the No. 4 spot in his second appearance for his play in the Tennessee Class 3A State Sectionals in 2022.  

Gillespie dropped 26 points as he and Greenville destroyed Knox Hall 86-24 to advance to the state final. The Greene Devils were up big, so they decided to put on a show late in the second half. Gillespie and his teammate found themselves in a two-on-one fastbreak. 

The teammate, who possessed the ball, bounced an alley-oop off the hardwood floor with force and precision. On the receiving end was Gillespie, who rose from two feet, grabbed the ball with his right hand and threw it down. The reaction from the crowd was priceless. 

Most impressively, Gillespie says the play was never planned or practiced. He also didn't expect the play to go viral like it did. In addition to the play appearing on SportsCenter, Hudl, Overtime and many other social media accounts with large followings shared the clip. 

“I just threw it to him, and I didn't know he was gonna bounce it off the ground,” he said. “But he did, and I just went and got it. … I was shocked. It was crazy."

Gillespie and his high school team went on to win the state championship, and he earned tournament MVP honors. He was even named Tennessee 3A Mr. Basketball, becoming the first player from northeast Tennessee to hold the title in its 37-year history. 

Through three games with the Terps, the 6-foot-1, 186-pound guard studying sociology is averaging 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. He scored double figures in each of his first three games as a Terp.

His knack for producing highlight reel plays remains a part of him. In his last outing against Florida A&M, he stole a pass and threw down a thunderous dunk on a fastbreak.

“Ja’Kobi is a cat man,” Maryland men’s basketball Director of Player Personnel, Ricky Harris, said. “He's super quick, he's super athletic, he has a high basketball IQ, he understands the game. And not just the shot-making ability, he also knows how to get other players involved in the game and how to make the game easier for them with the way he pushes the tempo, and again, he's just a savvy player. He's super smart. He gets his hands on a lot of basketballs, and he gets steals. It's not much on the court that he doesn't do.”

Gillespie credits his explosiveness as an athlete with playing football. He began playing the sport when he was about 5 years old. He quit his sophomore year of high school but returned to the gridiron as a junior to play alongside his friends.

The basketball star played wide receiver and returned kicks for the Greene Devils, receiving offers from SEC and ACC schools such as Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech to play football at the collegiate level.  

“I would say that my athleticism comes from football,” Gillespie said. “I did workouts all through the year, all football workouts. I feel like it got me super explosive.”

Despite his unrivaled athleticism and impressive accomplishments on the hardwood, basketball programs didn’t show the same interest in Gillespie as football programs. His first basketball offer didn’t come until the summer of his junior year when he began playing on the Under Armour AAU circuit. He also didn't receive any Power Five offers for basketball out of high school. 

Gillespie committed to Belmont — personally regarded as his biggest basketball offer — and shut down his football recruitment, as he had a different love for basketball. Gillespie spent his next two collegiate seasons leading the Bruins in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). After a solid freshman campaign, he broke out as a sophomore during the 2023-24 season.   

He averaged 17.2 points, 4.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals on 56.1 % shooting and was accompanied by MVC All-Conference Second Team, All-Defensive Team and Most-Improved Team honors. Gillespie entered the transfer portal after his magical season. 

The Terps lost Jahmir Young to the NBA over the offseason, who recently wrapped up a season in which he earned a First Team All-Big Ten selection. The match with Maryland couldn’t have been better. 

“Ja’Kobi Gillespie, from Belmont, was one of the guys early on that we saw in the portal,” Maryland head basketball coach Kevin Willard said at the 2024 Basketball Media Days. “We lost Jahmir Young. We lost someone that scored 1200 points in two years. For us, I needed a guy that wanted to come in and take over that leadership role, take over the minutes role. Ja’Kobi’s there.”

Gillespie garnered interest from many power conference teams — a stark contrast to coming out of high school. But Maryland was his first visit. He says his AAU coach’s ties to the DMV area played a significant role. 

“[I] looked at Maryland,” Gillespie said. “But the reason why this was my first visit is because of my AAU coach’s connections here. I just wanted to come here and see it first, and then I didn't even visit anywhere else. I just committed.” 

Gillespie’s AAU coach was Bobby Maze, a D.C. native. Maze is friends with Harris, a Baltimore native. The pair grew up playing basketball with and against each other, as it was common for Baltimore and D.C. guys to play pickup games at the time. 

Maze and Harris met on the court and later played basketball overseas together. Their friendship has continued despite playing at different colleges and transitioning to coaching at different levels.

As Harris recalled the process of bringing Gillespie to Maryland, he admitted the staff was watching his teammate at Belmont, Cade Tyson. But Gillespie kept popping up on the screen and making plays. Harris looked at Gillespie’s Instagram page, where he discovered the Belmont guard was affiliated with Maze and his AAU team, B Maze Elite. He immediately gave Maze a call. 

“We tried to get Ja’Kobi on a visit as soon as possible,” Harris said. “He was our first visit. Coach Willard did a great presentation and liked everything he saw and heard. Obviously, with the chance to replace Jahmir, he wanted to accept that challenge. I think we did a good job, and now he's here.” 

Gillespie brought his athletic talents to Maryland, where he’s continued to make highlight-reel plays on the basketball court. The junior guard says his abilities as a high flyer have been a part of his game for a while now, and fans can expect more plays like the one he made against Florida A&M on Nov 11.